Petrol Panic Passes

In 2000, public protests at oil refineries about the spiralling price of petrol and diesel (much of it due to government taxation - fuel duty accounts for around 65% of the cost) disrupted deliveries to filling stations, prompting motorists to rush to fill up at the pumps. The inevitable shortages nearly brought the country to a standstill. So when tabloid newspapers produced lurid headlines about the threat of more protests this week, long queues again developed. Filling stations across the country reported daily sales doubling, despite industry spokesmen making reassuring noises about the situation being entirely different from five years ago. The panic buying, lasted only one or two days however - as TV crews at refineries found it hard to find any protestors at all. At Scotland's largest refinery at Grangemouth, a solitary man with a placard turned up. As these pictures appeared in the media, the panic buying ceased. And with so many cars with full tanks, business at the pumps dried up. Just to add insult to injury, a price war has broken out and if motorists had only waited a few days, they could have saved several pounds on filling their petrol tanks.

Rising Petrol Prices Fuel Inflation

The UK consumer price index rose to 2.4% in August, the highest level since the current series began eight years ago. The increase in inflation was due mainly to higher prices for fuel and some seasonal food items. However, the underlying Retail Price Index (RPI) fell from 2.4% in July to 2.3% in August and if volatile products such as energy, food, alcohol and tobacco are removed from the calculations to get a "core" number, inflation actually slipped slightly to 1.7%. Economists are predicting that UK base interest rates could still fall by another 0.25% (from the current level of 4.5%) before the end of the year.

Slowdown in Retail Sales

The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) has reported that like-for-like sales grew by only 0.4% in August, down from 3.4 percent in July. Clothing and footwear suffered most, with the weakest growth for several years and a slow uptake of new autumn lines. If new store openings are taken into account, however, total sales grew by 3.6% in August. While Scotland's figures showed a slowdown in activity in the High Street, there was even weaker growth in England and Wales as unavoidable costs such as council tax rises, petrol and utility charges all have an impact on disposable income.

Scottish Gas Prices Jump 14%

Customers of Scottish Gas will be paying 14.2% more for their supplies from next week after the company announced that "spiralling oil prices are having an unprecedented impact on the cost of gas." Last year, Scottish Gas prices rose by 12.4%. Pensioners receive, at best, cost of living increases on their income of around 2.5% these days, so they will be hard hit. Customers who signed up to Scottish Gas' price protection plan, which caps energy prices until April 2007 will be smiling, however, at least until that date.

Parts of Scotland First to Lose Analogue TV

UK government plans to phase out the analogue TV and utilise only digital transmission, moved a step forward this week with the announcement that analogue transmitters in the Scottish Borders a Dumfries and Galloway would be one of the first parts of the country to switch off - in 2008. The rest of Scotland will follow a year later. The rest of the UK will see a gradual phasing out of analogue signals, with a final switch-over in 2012. Already, 63% of people in the UK now have access to digital TV transmissions in some shape or form, but that figure falls to 57% in Scotland where digital reception in some areas is poor. Receivers in hilly and mountainous areas such as in Scotland can have problems in getting a signal. In addition to cable and Sky, the "Freeview" set top box has become a popular means of receiving a digital service as it provides a number of extra TV channels for a one-off cost of buying a "black box". It is argued that, in addition to improved sound quality, digital TV and radio take up much less broadcasting bandwidth, allowing the other frequencies to be sold off for other uses such as wireless computing.

Scottish Unemployment Numbers Down

In the three months to the end of July, the number of people unemployed and seeking work in Scotland fell by 13,000 to 142,000 (5.5%), using the International Labour Organisation (ILO) method of calculation. The claimant count, which measures those on Jobseeker's Allowance (previously known as unemployment benefit) rose by 100 to 85,000 between July and August, which was 5,000 lower than in August 2004. At 3.2%, the claimant count is the lowest recorded for over 30 years. However, opposition political parties pointed out that Scotland has an unemployment rate which is higher than any other country in the UK.

Sky High Airports in August

Once again passenger numbers at Scotland's airports reached record levels last month, with 1,966,074 passengers using Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports during August, a rise of 4.3% on the same period last year. Numbers would have been even higher but industrial action at London's Heathrow meant the cancellation of all BA flights for a few days during the month. Glasgow was the busiest airport in Scotland with 883,745 passengers but Edinburgh was close behind with 823,793. In the twelve months to the end of August, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports handled more than 19.8 million passengers, a 5.6% increase on the previous year.

VisitScotland Focus on Mackintosh

Architect, artist and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who created such masterpieces as the Glasgow School of Art and the Scotland Street School at the end of the 19th and the early part of the 20th century, has long been used by his home city in their tourism campaigns. Now VisitScotland, the Scotland-wide tourist agency, has made him the main focus of its European Cities Campaign in France, Sweden, Germany and Holland - all locations served by low-cost airline services to Scotland. The campaign was launched this week at the House for an Art Lover (pictured here) in Bellahouston Park (which was designed by Mackintosh but was not built until near the end of the 20th century). Glasgow was recently voted as the best UK city after London to visit by the readers of the travel "bible" Conde Nast Traveller.

"Lazarus" Returns to Contest By-Election

The former Lord Provost of Glasgow, Pat Lally, earned the nickname of "Lazarus" for the number of times he raised his political career from the dead and bounced back to the top. Now aged 79, he finally retired form local government politics in 1999, but now he is standing as an independent candidate in the Scottish Parliament by-election for the Cathcart constituency. He will be up against eight other candidates - in alphabetical order, they are Conservative, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Scottish Socialist, Scottish National and UK Independence - plus another independent candidate. Voting will take place on Thursday, 29th September.

Bus Companies Agree to Co-operate

In the past, there has been bitter rivalry between two of the major bus companies operating in Scotland. Now, in a bid to increase competition with rail travel. Stagecoach, the Perth-based company founded by former bus driver Brian Souter, has taken a 35% stake in Citylink which is owned by a Singapore based parent company. In exchange, certain rights in Stagecoach's Motorvator and megabus.com operations will be transferred to Citylink. As a result, there will be more frequent services between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with buses leaving every 15 minutes instead of 20. Journey times between Edinburgh and Inverness are also being reduced - so that they will take a few minutes less than by train. Last year, the two companies accused each other of "predatory pricing" and Citylink ended an informal agreement whereby Stagecoach ran buses for it on three routes, including the one from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Citylink were also annoyed when Stagecoach launched its megabus service from Aberdeen and Inverness to central Scotland and on to London, competing directly with Citylink. Now it appears that the companies have buried the hatchet, not in each other, but by co-operating rather than competing.

Cheques No Longer Accepted

Giant oil company Shell has decided that it will no longer accept cheques at its filling stations after the volume of this payment method fell to under 1% of its total sales. The company says that the resources used to process these paper items instead of plastic cards is disproportionate to the number received. The move could be followed by other retailers, sounding the death-knell of such paper payments. The volume of cheques processed in the UK has fallen 50% in the last 15 years, and is expected to halve again in the next decade. However, many small businesses prefer to pay suppliers by cheque and consumers still use them to send money to friends and relatives.

"Glas-vegas" Plan Revived

Plans to create a number of super-casinos in Glasgow were brought to a grinding halt when the government pulled back on the number of regional venues, reducing them from eight to two. It is thought that London and the English seaside resort of Blackpool will be the preferred locations. But that has not stopped Glasgow City Council pushing for the legislation to be amended and there is now hope that this might happen. Alternatively, the city wants to be ready if a "phase 2" is given the go-ahead later. It is estimated that a super-casino could generate £200 million a year for the west of Scotland economy and provide 4,000 jobs in total. Glasgow already has 5 of Scotland's 12 normal-size casinos and planning permission has been granted for three more. Currently there are three proposals in Glasgow for super casinos (with as many as 1,250 slot machines as well as all the usual card and roulette games). These are Las Vegas Sands, attached to the Rangers Football Club grounds at Ibrox (see artist's impression); the Kerzner International at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre; and MGM Mirage at Glasgow Harbour.

Geopark for Scotland

An area stretching for 2,000 square kilometres, incorporating all of North West Sutherland and part of Wester Ross, has become Scotland's first Geopark in recognition of its globally important geological features. It includes sites which once helped in the understanding of rock formations, including the Lewis Gneiss, which is 3,000 million years old and is Europe's oldest rock. It contains some of the most important and diverse geological features in Britain. The Geopark was officially opened this week at Scottish Natural Heritage's Knockan Crag National Nature Reserve in Sutherland.

Scotland's Most Expensive Bridge Tolls to End?

The cost of crossing both ways over the river Clyde via the Erskine Bridge incurs a higher charge than the tolls on either the Forth or Tay bridges - and the charge on the bridge from the mainland to the island of Skye was removed on 1 January this year. But the Members of the Scottish Parliament on both sides of the river and the local authorities have been pushing for the removal of charges on the Erskine bridge for some time. They claim that there are positive signs from the Scottish Executive and that the tolls may be ditched by the end of this year. It is argued that removing the toll would help to reduce congestion at the crossings further up the river in Glasgow, particularly the Clyde Tunnel. It has always been a puzzle why the Kingston Bridge and the tunnel incur no charge, while the Erskine Bridge costs £1.60 pence to travel back and forward across it. While the charge on the Forth bridge is £1, that is only levied in one direction. The tolls from the Erskine Bridge provide the government with an additional income of £5.5 million each year.

Aberdeen is Pick of the Bunch

Aberdeen retained its title of "Best City" in the annual Beautiful City in Bloom awards, which were announced this week. But the top prize, the Rosebowl Trophy, went to the Fair City of Perth, which also won the large town award (since it is not a city, despite its aspirations in that regard). The illustration here is of a hanging basket outside the Fergusson Gallery in Perth. The competition is judged on a number of criteria, including the quality of floral displays, environmental initiatives, cleanliness of streets and input from members of the public. Falkland in Fife won the trophy for best large village (not for the first time) and Duffus in Moray won the title of best small village, while the best coastal resort award was won by North Berwick.

Secret Reintroduction of Pearl Mussels

Over the last two months, freshwater pearl mussels have been located in secret locations in streams and rivers in the Cairngorms National Park in a bid to revive the species in the area. Poachers have plundered pearl beds in a number of other rivers and Scottish-grown pearls almost became extinct. The mussels not only provide beautiful pearls, but they play an important part in maintaining healthy rivers - adult mussels filter about 50 litres of water a day, removing impurities. Freshwater pearl mussels were given legal protection in 1998 and there are estimated to be around 60 sites across the country where they can still be found.

Maid Back on the Loch

The Maid of the Loch paddle steamer, which used to take tourists for a sail up beautiful Loch Lomond, was taken out of service in 1981. The ship was the last traditional paddle steamer to have been built in the UK and although there are still boat trips available on the loch (sailing from Balloch), there are many who yearn for a nostalgic trip on the "Maid". A band of enthusiasts has been keeping the ship afloat (literally, in the early stages, after it had been allowed to deteriorate) and working hard at restoration. It now looks a though their long hard battle will be crowned with success, as they have managed to raise £620,000 from a variety of sources, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Enterprise and West Dunbartonshire Council.

Skye High Charges

The trading standards department in Highland Council is to investigate the exorbitant delivery charges imposed on residents of the island of Skye because it is still classed by many companies as a "remote island" - despite being linked to the mainland by a bridge which, since the first of January this year, had no toll charges. In some cases it is though that the problem is due to ignorance - delivery to Kyle on one side of the bridge can be classed as "mainland" while delivery to Kyleakin on the other side incurs a whopping extra charge. In one case, a company in England selling a children's slide costing £95 wanted to charge an additional £230 to deliver it to Portree on Skye when they had a £10 charge for anywhere else on "mainland" UK. In the end, the slide was delivered to Kyle for £10 and then taken the remaining 30 miles to Portree by a local carrier for another £10. Some companies claim that the problem arises because Skye shares the same postcode as remote islands and staff in southern England do not know the local geography.

A Strain on Christian Shoulders

The latest edition of the Church of Scotland hymnary contains 825 items, 130 more than the 3rd edition, and is the first for over thirty years. It also incorporates the sheet music and as a result it is much larger than the previous volumes. Complaints about the larger format (it tips the scales at nearly a kilogram - 2.2lbs) have dominated the letters pages of the church's magazine "Life and Work". Pensioners and those with arthritis or rheumatism say that they have not been given any consideration. Some ministers are now beaming the words onto screens from overhead projectors using Powerpoint presentations. This not only saves their congregation from having to hold the heavy hymnary, but saves the church from having to purchase lots of individual copies.

Scotland Retain Elephant Polo Trophy

It's not often that we can trumpet that a Scottish team has won a world title, but that's what happened last weekend when the elephant polo team clinched the "Tiger Tops Challenge Trophy" by beating the Thailand team on their home territory in extra time. Sponsored by Chivas Regal, the Scots don't get much practical training for these matches, as there are no elephant in this country geared to the sport. The elephants are "driven" (if that's the right word) by local mahouts (drivers) and the players just whack the ball when they get within range. Elephant polo was invented by Scotsman James Manclark and Briton Jim Edwards in 1983. The charity matches are played to raise money for Thailand's National Elephant Institute in Lampang, northern Thailand.

Weather in Scotland This Week

The weather this week started off well, with temperatures largely 19/22C (66/72F) with lots of sunshine - Edinburgh recorded 7.7 hours of sun on Monday. But the weather got decidedly cooler and cloudier later in the week. On Tuesday, heavy rain and strong winds swept across much of the country, the west coast and the Hebridean islands being particularly badly affected. Stornoway recorded over an inch of rain on Tuesday and some parts of Wester Ross and Skye were affected by flooding and landslips and subsidence closed a number of roads. The thermometer also headed downwards, with Aberdeen's maximum temperature on Thursday and Friday no higher than 12C (54F) and central Scotland only a few degrees higher than that. The sun did shine strongly on Friday, with both Edinburgh and Glasgow registering over eight hours of clear skies. But after overnight rain, leaden skies returned on Saturday.

The picture shown here to illustrate the current season in Scotland is of Foxgloves growing in my own garden. For further illustrations, see the "Colour Supplement" below.

Newsletter "Colour Supplement"

Regular readers of this Newsletter will be used to seeing more photographs illustrating the current flora and fauna in Scotland. This week, there were again so many photos to choose from a Colour Supplement has been created so as not to overload the main Newsletter. Click on the link and you will open up a new page with a half-dozen more illustrations - including heather, a Little Egret, a Mallard regaining its colourful plumage after moulting and a Moorhen chick - growing up fast.

Planners Support Multi-Storey Car Park Opposite Museum

Despite objections from heritage experts, city planners have voiced support for a controversial new multi-storey car park directly opposite the A-listed Scotland Street School, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1895. The building is now a museum and despite the city bidding to obtain United nations World Heritage Status for Mackintosh's greatest works, the three-storey car park with 400 spaces will dwarf one of his best works. Looking on the bright side, it may provide parking for the visitors to the museum, though as the facility is being designed to encourage commuters to leave their cars there and use the subway into the city centre, there may not be many spaces left for tourists during the day.

Scottish Placenames Rooted in Welsh

A new book on the origins of Scottish placenames claims that "at least 80% of Scotland's population live in places whose names can be interpreted by looking at a Welsh dictionary." This is due to a time, 1,000 to 2,500 years ago, when a language which eventually came down to us Welsh, was spread across lowland Scotland, northern England and down towards present-day Wales. The Brythonic language is one of the two branches of the Celtic language family of Britain. The name is derived from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous "Briton" as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael. As examples, the place-name Perth is today pronounced and spelled in Scotland in precisely the same way as the word perth is pronounced in present-day Wales. The town of Penicuik, south of Edinburgh (once a major centre of the Brythonic language) comes from "pen y gog" - which in Welsh means "hill of the cuckoo." And Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, is an anglicised version of the Welsh name din Eidyn - fort of Eidyn. Author William Oxenham says that some of Scotland's famous clans and families have Welsh (ie Brythonic) names. Cameron comes from cam bron, meaning curved hill-brow, and Gordon from gor-din (grand fortress), while Leslie is from llys celyn (courtyard of holly trees), and Abercrombie from aber crwm bych (mouth of the little curving stream).

William Wallace Catalogue Launched

When the Museum of Scotland opened to the public in 1998, William Wallace was famously absent from the displays - supposedly on the grounds that there were no authentic portraits or documents extant from his times. Later, the museum obtained a loan of a letter signed by Wallace and the Earl of Moray to the mayor of Lubeck saying that "The Kingdom of Scotland has, by God's Grace, recovered by battle from the power of the English". The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, however, is proud of its collection of Wallace material and takes every opportunity to acquire available artefacts. Now, thanks to the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Stirling Smith has published a 54 page full colour catalogue of its holdings relating to the story of William Wallace. The collection has been built up in the last ten years through appeals, donations and judicious purchases. Stirling is the home of the National Wallace Monument (illustrated here) and the Wallace collection of the Stirling Smith is also of national significance. The catalogue is now on sale at the museum and costs just £3. Their web site is at www.smithartgallery.demon.co.uk.

Next Week in Scottish History

• September 18 1818 - Theatre Royal, Glasgow, became the first theatre in Britain to be lit by gas.
• September 18 1959 - 47 miners were killed at Auchengeich Colliery, Lanarkshire when the bogies carrying them to work ran into smoke 1,000 feet below ground.
• September 19 1854 - The Great North of Scotland Railway opened, running from Aberdeen to Huntly.
• September 20 1746 - Prince Charles Edward Stuart escaped capture by sailing to France aborad the French ship "L'Heureux."
• September 20 1842 - Sir James Dewar, inventor of the vacuum flask, born in Kincardine-on-Forth.
• September 20 1967 - Liner "Queen Elizabeth II" launched at John Brown's shipyard at Clydebank.
• September 21 1327 - King Edward II of England died , succeeded by Edward III.
• September 21 1513 - King James V crowned at Stirling Castle.
• September 21 1745 - Charles Edward Stuart victorious at Battle of Prestonpans. The Jacobite army of just over 3,000 under Bonnie Prince Charlie heavily defeated the English Royal forces led by Sir John Cope.
• September 21 1756 - Road builder John McAdam born in Ayr.
• September 21 1832 - Novelist (notably "Ivanhoe" and "Talisman") and poet Sir Walter Scott died aged 61.
• September 22 1931 - Birth of politician, Secretary of State for Scotland, and Minister for Defence, Viscount Younger of Leckie (George Younger). Later became Chairman of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.
• September 23 704 - Death of St Adamnan, biographer of St Columba.
• September 23 1678 - The Earl of Mar was commissioned to raise a regiment nicknamed "Earl of Mar's Gray Breeks" which later became the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
• September 23 1779 - Battle of Flamborough Head in which Scots-born John Paul Jones fought an engagement against the British navy. His ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard sank but he boarded and captured HMS Serapis.
• September 24 1332 - Edward Balliol, son of John Balliol, crowned at Scone. He was deposed by supporters of David II in December 1332, restored in 1333, deposed again in 1334, restored in 1335 and finally deposed in 1341.

Merchant City Festival

The description "Merchant City" is applied to the area south-west of Glasgow's George Square and refers back to the days in the 18th and 19th centuries when the city grew rapidly as a result of trade, especially with North America and the West Indies. The tobacco and cotton merchants indulged in conspicuous consumption by building large mansion houses, using the profits made as a result of their entrepreneurial and financial skills. Although few of these remain in the "Merchant City", they act as a reminder of the days when Glasgow was the premier tobacco port of the UK. Nowadays, however, it is more of a marketing name and the Festival at the end of September uses the elegance of the area as a backdrop for a varied programme of film, visual arts, dance, street theatre, music, comedy, food and fashion. The streets have live music stages, theatre and markets. The festival runs from Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 September.

Jazz Festival's Unique Venues

When you are organising a jazz festival on a Scottish island, you have to use any local facilities that are available. So the Black Bottle Islay Jazz Festival (16th - 18th September) is being held in some of the distilleries on the island, as well as bird sanctuaries, stately homes, village halls, a Gaelic college - and even the internet café in Port Ellen, the largest town on Islay. This all creates a totally unique festival, even before a note has been played! See also http://islayjazzfestival.co.uk.

Taste of Mull & Iona Food Festival

Taking place at towards the end of September, the Taste of Mull & Iona Food Festival is a week-long celebration of the islands’ rich and diverse local produce, including oysters, scallops, award winning cheeses and island reared lamb, beef and venison. This year's event takes place from 18-24 September. For more information, see www.mict.co.uk/food.

Digital First for Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Concert-goers at the "Classic Bites" series of concerts given by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Edinburgh and Glasgow will be given a password which will allow them to later download the performances. The site is being hosted by Scottish Television and it is thought that this is the first time in the UK that this facility has been offered as part of the ticket price.

Wigtown Literary Festival

The historic market town of Wigtown on the Galloway coast boasts a malt whisky distillery - and a quarter of a million books. The town has made a name for itself with the number of bookshops there, and each autumn they run a book festival which provides ten days of readings, performances, exhibitions and debates. The aim is to generate a mass migration of bibliophiles from all over Britain to Galloway between 23 September and 2 October. This year there is also a celebration of the life of the late James Robertson Justice the colourful actor who is one of Wigtown's best-known sons. For more information, see Wigtown Literary Festival Web site.

Sunday and Mid-Week Football Results

Livingston 1 Heart of Midlothian 4
Rangers 3 Porto 2 (European Champions League)
Hibernian 0 Dnipro (Ukraine) 0 (UEFA Cup, first round, first leg)

Bank of Scotland Premierleague Results - 17 September 2005

Dundee United 2 Livingston 0
Dunfermline 0 Aberdeen 2
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 Heart of Midlothian 1
Motherwell 5 Falkirk 0
Rangers 3 Kilmarnock 0
Hibernian v Celtic will be played on Sunday.

Bell's Scottish Football League First Division Results - 17 September 2005

Hamilton 1 Airdrie United 1
Ross County 1 Brechin City 0
St Johnstone 1 Dundee 1
St Mirren 2 Clyde 0
Stranraer 0 Queen of the South 0

BT Scotland Rugby Division 1 Results - 17 September 2005

Biggar 25 Stewart's Melville 20
Boroughmuir 15 Stirling County 7
Currie 9 Melrose 16
Glasgow Hawks 21 Ayr 10
Hawick 33 Aberdeen 15
Heriots 20 Watsonians 25

League Tables

Hearts remain out in front of the Premierleague with an unbeaten record so far this season - 21 points from 7 matches. Celtic are currently second with 13 points but have played one game fewer. Rangers, Hibernian and Kilmarnock also have 13 points. At the foot of the SPL is Livingston with just one point.

At the top of the First Division, Ross County are one point ahead of St Mirren, while at the other end of that table Queen of the South have just 2 points.

In the Second Division, newly promoted Gretna lead the table, one point ahead of Greenock Morton.

In the BT Scotland Rugby Division 1, Glasgow Hawks are well out in front, 4 points ahead of Watsonians and 7 points ahead of Heriots. Melrose and Stewart's Melville are trailing at the foot of this table.

Scotland's World Football Ranking Improves

Recent positive results by the Scotland football squad under Walter Smith's management have pushed the country up the international ranking table 12 places to 74th. But before we get too carried away, that only puts Scotland between Cuba and Qatar. On the other hand, Scotland did manage a 1-1 against Italy, placed 13th in the FIFA rankings. Brazil are still at the top of the international table, with Holland in second place. England have dropped out of the top ten and USA has dropped one place to 7th. Scotland's qualification for the World Cup will depend not only on beating Belarus on 8 October and Slovenia four days later, but also on Norway dropping points. The kick-off for the final matches involving Scotland v Slovenia and Italy v Moldova and Belarus v Norway will be synchronised so that none of the teams has any advantage.

Rangers Winning Start to European Campaign

A last-minute goal by defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos gave Rangers a winning start in their efforts to make progress in the European Champions League. In a roller-coaster game, the Ibrox team went ahead twice, only to see Portuguese club Porto equalise (who won the European Champions League in 2004). In an untidy match, with a fair amount of scrappy play, Rangers got the result they wanted more by grit and determination than skill. As a result, the club is now at the top of their Group, having scored more goals than Inter Milan, who defeated Artmedia 1-0.

Woodwork Denies Hibernian Victory

Hibernian returned to European football on Thursday as they played the home leg of their UEFA Cup first leg against Ukrainian club Dnipro. Hibs gave an impressive performance, but after hitting the goalposts twice, they were held to a 0-0 draw. Hibs will now face the return match in the Ukraine. While they at least denied Dnipro an away goal advantage, it will be more difficult for Hibs on the away leg.

New Scotland Rugby Coach Appointed

Scottish Ruby Football Union has appointed popular Edinburgh coach Frank Hadden to take the national side through to the 2007 World Cup. He beat Borders Reivers coach Steve Bates to the job, which became vacant when Matt Williams was sacked in April this year after a string of poor results. 51-year-old Hadden is said to have an impressive depth of rugby knowledge, coaching expertise and a vision for the national team. Hadden has acted as interim head coach since April and led the team to an impressive 38-7 win over the Barbarians at Pittodrie, Aberdeen, in May.

British Double at Mountain Bike World Cup

The crowd thronging Fort William to see the final leg of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill series cheered a double victory for UK riders as Steve Peat won the men's title and Tracy Moseley won the Women's Downhill World Cup. The picturesque slopes of Aonach Mor and the Nevis Range creates one of the longest and arguably the most demanding course on the World Cup circuit. The UCI (International Cycle Union) Mountain Bike World Cup is the most prestigious and the most extreme competition in the world's mountain biking calendar.
Picture by Andy McAndlish.

Scottish Amateur Golfers Win Title

It is five years since a Scottish team of amateur golfers won the Raymond Trophy, which is contested by teams from Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. The Scots have been runners-up in the past four championships but this is only the third time in 20 years that Scotland has won the title. They pipped England (the defending champions) in a tie-breaker with the most number of points over three days play. During the contest, Scotland had soundly defeated the English team by 11-3 and finished on the last day with a 10-5 win over Ireland.

Record Crowds for Scottish Horse Racing

The biggest Flat race meeting of the season at Ayr began on Thursday as figures were released this week which showed that the upward trend in spectators at Scottish racecourses, which began in 1999, is continuing. In the first eight months of this year, 235,735 racegoers went to 67 meetings staged in Scotland, nearly 8,000 more than in the same period in 2004 (when there were more meetings). Average daily attendance went up by 6.6% with Ayr (up by 21%) and Perth (a rise of 18%) enjoying a particularly good season.